About the National Fibromyalgia Partnership, Inc.

About NFP

The National Fibromyalgia Partnership (NFP) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, educational organization, established in 1992. Its membership includes patients and their families as well as medical professionals (both research and clinical) from across North America and around the world.

Since its inception, the NFP has distinguished itself through the comprehensive, medically-accurate information it offers and the unique vision with which it conceives new publications and services to meet public needs. Thanks to valuable assistance from many medical experts and organizations like the National Institutes of Health, the NFP has been able to offer quality educational materials and speaker presentations on fibromyalgia and related conditions to its membership and the general public.

Best known among its publications is the National Fibromyalgia Partnership's popular quarterly journal, Fibromyalgia Frontiers, which has offered articles and information on diagnosis, treatment, research, and coping for the last 20 years. Resource information on a number of subjects is also available through its print catalog and website.

The NFP accepts no paid advertisements and endorses no medical products, treatments, or practitioners. The organization is supported by the dues and donations received from its members which allows it to provide objective, uncensored information that is reliable and pertinent to the public.

Our Objectives

To disseminate up-to-date, accurate information concerning the etiology, pathophysiology, and management of FM;

To foster public awareness about FM and its legitimacy as a verifiable and treatable condition;

To track and report on new medical research related to FM and associated conditions;

To provide informational materials, technical support, and other appropriate assistance to health organizations which are concerned, either directly or indirectly, with FM education, treatment, or research;

To furnish adjunct resource information (i.e., availability of self-help, legal, or financial assistance organizations) which can assist patients and caregivers with FM management;

To monitor and support legislative activities which have a bearing on FM research and treatment as permitted by our designation as a charitable organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

NFP Medical Advisory Board

Russell Rothenberg, M.D., Chair (Rheumatology, Internal Medicine) Board certified in Rheumatology and Internal Medicine and Associate Professor at the George Washington University Medical Center (Washington, DC). Diplomate, American College of Rheumatology. Specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of fibromyalgia and lupus. Currently in private practice in Bethesda, MD.

Elliott Alpher, D.D.S., M.S. (General Dentistry and Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction) Board certified in Pain Management; also holds a Mastership from the International College of Craniomandibular Orthopedics. Founder of the Metropolitan Area Craniofacial Pain Center, (Washington, DC). Chair and Assistant Professor of the Dental Division, George Washington University Medical Center (Washington, DC). Specializes in the treatment of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain and dysfunction as well as Myofascial Pain Syndrome. Currently in private practice in Washington, DC.

Daniel Clauw, M.D. (Rheumatology and Internal Medicine) Board certified in Rheumatology and Internal Medicine. Professor of Internal Medicine and Rheumatology at the University of Michigan Medical Center at Ann Arbor and Director of the Center for Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research, one of the largest fibromyalgia research centers in the country. Received Senior Fellow Award, American College of Rheumatology, Southeast Regional Meeting. Also on the editorial board of the Journal of Musculoskeletal Pain and is reviewer for the Annals of Internal Medicine, JAMA, the New York State Medical Journal, Pediatrics, the Journal of Rheumatology, and Arthritis and Rheumatism. Is also a consultant for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Devices Panel, and is Chairman of the Research Advisory Council, Showa Denko Corporation.

Les Gavora, M.D. (Internal Medicine) Fellowship trained in emergency medicine. Board Certified in Internal Medicine. Currently in private practice in Fairfax, VA, where he treats a large number of fibromyalgia patients.

Robert Gerwin, M.D. (Neurology, Myofascial Pain) Medical Director and President of Pain and Rehabilitation Medicine in Bethesda, MD. Assistant Clinical Professor of Neurology, The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and Consultant to the Johns Hopkins Pain Clinic (Baltimore, MD). Board certified in Neurology and Diplomate, American Academy of Pain Management. Also Fellow, American Academy of Neurology. Previously, Chief of the Division of Neurology, Prince George's General Hospital (Cheverly, MD). Special Fellow, NIH National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke and Fellow in Neuroimmunology at the Laboratory of Clinical Investigation of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, Duke University School of Medicine. Has worked in the area of chronic pain for many years with a special interest in pain of muscular origin. Currently on the staff of Washington Adventist Hospital (Takoma Park, MD) and in private practice at Pain & Rehabilitation Medicine. Also on the editorial board of the Journal of Musculoskeletal Pain and a member of the International Myopain Committee.

Arthur Weinstein, M.D.(Rheumatology) Director of Rheumatology at the Washington Hospital Center (Washington, DC). Also Adjunct Professor of Medicine at New York Medical College at Valhalla where he previously served as Chief of the Division of Rheumatic Diseases and Immunology. He is also a researcher of international reputation specializing in chronic Lyme Disease, Lyme-induced fibromyalgia, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and scleroderma. He was Principal Investigator of a NIAMS/NIH funded study of Lyme-induced fibromyalgia and has worked on research grants funded by the Arthritis Foundation, the Lupus Foundation, the Scleroderma Foundation, and New York Medical College, among others.

Thomas Wise, M.D. (Psychiatry) Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Fairfax Hospital in Northern Virginia. Is also Professor of Psychiatry, Georgetown University School of Medicine (Washington, DC) and Associate Professor of Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (Baltimore, MD). Editor of the journal, Psychosomatics.

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